Korean J Pediatr Infect Dis.  2001 May;8(1):90-93. 10.14776/kjpid.2001.8.1.90.

Clinical Availability of Rapid Strep Test in Children with Group A Streptococcal Pharyngotonsilitis

• Kim YH
• Bae YM
• Cha SH
• Ma SH

• KMID: 2440208
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.14776/kjpid.2001.8.1.90

Abstract

PURPOSE
The accurate diagnosis and proper treatment of group A streptococal infection should be emphasized concerning about possible development of late sequelae, such as acute rheumatic fever and acute glomerulonephritis. Inadequate & improperance of antobiotics have resulted in increased number of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. We would like to know the clinical usefulness of rapid strep test compared with conventional throat culture in out-patients with acute pharyngotonsilitis.
METHODS
From Sep. 2000. to Jan. 2001, rapid strep test(LINK 2 Strep A, USA) & throat culture were taken from 87 patients with clinically suspect pharyngotonsilitis from Masan Fatima hospital & kyunghee university hospital.
RESULTS
Of 87 cases with pharyngitis, 39 cases proved to have group A streptococci by throat culture. The positive predictive value of rapid test was 92.3%(36 of 39 cases) and sensitivity test was 81.8%(36 of 44 cases). The specificity of rapid test was 93.0%(40 of 43 cases) and negative predictive value was 83.3%(40 of 48 cases).
CONCLUSION
The positive predictive value & specificity of rapid strep test is high. And so, this test will give the pediatricians practical guidance of antibiotic use in patients with pharyngitis. But more efforts should be made to prevent antibiotics abuse and correct diagnosis of pharyngitis.

Keyword

Group A streptococci; Pharyngotonsilitis; Rapid strep test; Throat culture

MeSH Terms

Anti-Bacterial Agents
Bacteria
Child*
Diagnosis
Glomerulonephritis
Humans
Outpatients
Pharyngitis
Pharynx
Rheumatic Fever
Sensitivity and Specificity
Anti-Bacterial Agents